The Other Side
by leopharry
Summary: He knows he can move forward because he knows what's waiting for him there. Contains spoilers after episode 25.


**A/N:** This piece came to me about... an hour ago? I'm sure if I let it sit in my documents folder for a couple more days I could tweak it and perfect it, but I really don't want to do that. I just want to post it and be done with it.  
Other than that, I'm rather proud of it for an hour's work. I think it came out rather nicely.

Sorry about the lack of updates, though. I'm trying to work on it, but... I have a lot of homework. And when it's not homework, it's studying. And when it's not studying, it's... well... there's this boy...

But enough about my personal life. Enjoy! :D

* * *

He heard nothing. He felt nothing. He sensed nothing. He had no name or face. He had no emotion. When he opened his eyes, he saw nothing, so he closed his eyes again and let the nothingness manifest everywhere and nowhere. He could have been there forever and not have known the difference if it had only been five minutes. He felt no hunger, no urge to sleep, no need to do anything but remain where he was because there was nothing else he could do. Then, from nowhere, he sensed, and it was a sensation that jolted through his body and opened his eyes and he saw.

At first there was nothing around him. But then he realized that that wasn't right and when it occurred to him that he couldn't just be a floating cloud of thought he noticed that he had a body. He wondered vaguely how long it had been there before he realized he was neither stationary nor falling, so he stood up. And when he realized that his body felt the same all around, he looked down and was clothed in a long white shirt and baggy denim jeans. He looked at his bare feet and smiled at the normality of it. Then he took a step forward. Realizing that that was the thing to do, he continued to step, one foot at a time, in a straight line forever. His footsteps were silent; there was no ground for his feet to land on.

When forever came to an end, he stopped walking because he realized he was going the wrong way. So he turned around and saw several figures in the distance. He could tell they were walking toward him, so he didn't move and simply let them approach. He felt in his stomach a tense feeling and he realized that he was greatly anticipating these people reaching him. So impatient was he that after giving them only to the count of three (because after counting the number of people in the group, he remembered the existence of numbers, and noticed that there were three people in the approaching party) he began to walk toward them.

As they drew closer, they became more distinguished, and he noticed that the three were walking somewhat apart. Two people were walking closer together than they were to the third person, and as they got closer, he noticed more things about them. The couple was near the middle of their lives, one a man and the other a woman. The woman was very petite; she looked very fragile, she was so small. She had auburn hair that bobbed slightly as she stepped. Her expression was one of delight, yet also sadness, because tears flowed from her eyes like a river. He understood the expression of pride on her face, and he noticed that she looked at him with such love in her eyes that she could only be his mother.

Which meant that the man walking next to her had to be his father. He glanced at the man and immediately confirmed it, because, though he had never seen his own face, he knew that they looked exactly like each other. The man's long black hair was untidy and unmanageable just like his, and the deep grey eyes stared at him with the same piercing, almost unnerving gaze he himself had given so many others. Their only difference was in height; this man was very tall, and he himself was of average height, so he must have inherited that from his mother.

He gazed at the third person, an old man, greying in the hair and mustache, and gazing at him with such kind eyes that he had to look away because of the sick feeling he felt in his stomach when their eyes met. He understood it to be guilt, as if whatever had landed that man here had been his fault, although if that were true, then he couldn't remember for the life of him what had happened. He wished he could remember it, because he was certain that this old man was very dear to him. At the very least, he wished he could remember the man's name...

When they finally met, they all stopped just outside the other's personal space. He looked at each one in turn and they all looked at him, pride and love predominant on their faces. His mother's face was full of tears and his father had such a wide smile. The old man continued to stare with the kindness and caring that he knew he always enjoyed seeing before they were all here.

His mother spoke first. "L," she said simply, her voice shaken in her attempt to be calm. Then he remembered that that was his name. The simple syllable that had told him and everyone else who he was. "We've been waiting for a long time for you."

He nodded at her. "This place is timeless. I feel as though I've been here forever, too."

His father spoke now, his knowing voice quiet but strong. "We were so excited when we realized you were here."

L was puzzled. "How could you tell? I didn't sense anything when I got here. I thought I was completely alone."

"That's how it is when you first get here. And then, slowly, you realize that the only things here are the things you really need," his mother said softly, reaching out to him. She pulled him towards her, and he realized that this was a hug, though he was certain that he hadn't so much as touched another person in ages. Despite this, he returned the embrace because it was the right thing to do. It was the comfortable thing to do. Then his father joined, and he hugged him too because it was what he needed to do. He felt in him a feeling of inner peace. He was positive he hadn't felt that since he was very, very small.

He would have been content to hug his parents for the rest of his existence in this plane, but he knew he had one more person to address, and now that he knew his own name, he knew the name of the greying gentleman he had felt so guilty about.

"Watari," he began beseechingly, looking at the old man through sad eyes. "I'm so sorry for everything."

But Watari raised his hand to stop him and L stopped. "My dear boy, you act as if I hadn't been planning for that all along."

That didn't make sense to L, and he cocked his head to the side and asked, "But why?"

Watari looked him straight in the eye with those kind, smiling eyes, and said, "People do strange things for the ones they love, L. And you were my son."

L, understanding the severity of Watari's statement, merely smiled with teary eyes, and hugged Watari too. And, though he was sobbing all the while, he smiled because there was peace now.

He let go of Watari, and he turned around once more. This time, there was something there, far in the distance but so close he could almost touch it. He felt an arm around his back, a hand in his and a touch on his shoulder.

"What is it?" L asked, not certain they knew. Not certain he wanted to know.

"We've no idea, but we're certain that's where we need to go next," his mother said. He nodded, but couldn't muster the courage to move his feet.

His father could sense this, and said, "It's intimidating, we know. But it's so much better on the other side."

He looked at his father's face in fear, wondering if that could possibly be true. Wondering if they would be with him there or if he'd be alone and lost again.

Watari knew his thoughts and said, "Have courage, L. We'll be with you all the way. We always have been."

L nodded, knowing this, having known this since he first arrived here and even before that. Watari's words filled him with a strong sense of purpose and he stepped forward, slowly at first, then breaking out into a run as he got closer. Even though the others stayed where they had been standing, he had known they would because he knew that they hadn't really been there in the first place. And he knew he could go forward into this strange new place because he knew what was waiting for him on the other side.


End file.
